03/12/2018

Donation of Walter Lewis’ Pollen Slide Collection

In November 2017, Erika Gardner traveled to Washington University to pack and ship 225 slide boxes of Walter Lewis’ systematic pollen slide collection, recently donated by Lewis and his wife, Memory Elvin-Lewis, to the Smithsonian’s Department of Botany.

Lewis is a retired professor from Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri. During his career at Washington University, he was a prominent ethnobotanist, a pioneer in polyploidy research, and a palynologist. Lewis produced 37 palynology scientific journal publications and wrote Airborne and Allergenic Pollen of North America (1983). He also authored the books Medicinal Botany: Plants Affecting Human Health (2003) and Polyploidy: Biological Relevance (1980). These publications advanced our knowledge about the important relationships between plants and people.

The slide collection was stored at Washington University in three standard size herbarium cases. Each box was carefully prepared by Gardner with bubble wrap in order to prevent the glass slides from breaking during transit. It took three large rolls of bubble wrap to pack the entire shipment. In total, 15 cardboard boxes of slide boxes were safely shipped to Washington, DC. The next phase will be to assess the quantity and quality of the slides, inventory, and then properly store and house the slides with the slide collection at the U.S. National Herbarium.

Lewis inspired many of his students to pursue careers in botany, including Laurence Dorr, Chair of the Department of Botany, who was a student in Lewis’ Plant Systematics course in 1973. The Lewis’s continue to publish from their offices at Washington University, where Walter Lewis is currently describing a newly discovered rose species from Texas to be named in honor of his wife, Memory Elvin-Lewis.

The Lewis’ proudly present a new rose species discovered in North America. Walter Lewis will name the rose in honor of Memory Elvin-Lewis. (photo by Erika Gardner)